


Lion's Last Roar

by Cheezey



Series: Chronicles of a Dark Planet [4]
Category: Voltron: Lion Voltron
Genre: Drama, F/M, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-28
Updated: 2010-08-28
Packaged: 2017-10-11 07:15:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/109844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheezey/pseuds/Cheezey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An attack on Arus takes a turn for the worse when the blue lion is the target.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lion's Last Roar

**Author's Note:**

> Those of you familiar with Thundercats will probably recognize the Berbil reference in this story. What can I say, I wrote Thundercats fic for years and I believe the two universes can co-exist quite nicely in one massive collective of planets.

"So, what do you think, Prince Lotor?" the witch Haggar asked of the younger ruler of Doom expectantly as they stood in front of the confined robeast in her laboratory. Although the witch had come up with many ingenious designs of the cybernetic creatures over the years, the one in the bio chamber was of a novel and more advanced design than any she had come up with prior. That particular design was one that had been in the works for weeks, but between the recent political nonsense between Lotor and his father King Zarkon, attacks by the Galaxy Alliance, and the additional distraction of Queen Merla's sudden defection and return to her home world, development on it to even a prototype stage had been somewhat slow.

Fortunately, matters had settled down in recent days, for Lotor had returned and reconciled with his father, and the Arusian-based Voltron Force was rather quiet after having been embarrassingly duped into wasting their resources destroying a false planet Doom. Relative order, at least as much as there ever was on their world, had returned to the point where Zarkon was comfortable enough to take a trip off-world to "take care of business," as he had said before he left with some of the robotic and military staff, and although Haggar was never pleased to see her favored leader leave, she was pleased with the chance to proceed without distraction with her wicked work. As a bonus, the reformed Queen Merla had not returned to Doom, and as someone who had never been a fan of the arrogant Seventh Kingdom queen even _before_ her sudden change of heart to goodness and light, Haggar did not mind her absence in the least.

Lotor eyed the bound creature in the bio chamber carefully. In its un-amplified size, it was still an imposing sight with its armor-scaled arms and glowing red sensor eyes, the latter of which formed a crown around its head so the robeast had a full 360-degree line of sight. Additionally the circular scales on its arms and legs, Haggar had just finished explaining to the prince, held coiled-up tentacles that would be released during battle. Those tentacles were made of a semi-liquid and highly conductive metal and bio-matrix blend that could merge and form thicker, stronger appendages, or split into many thinner ones to entangle an enemy craft as if in a web or net. The tentacles were also hooked at the end for additional grip and electrified with damaging lazon-powered bursts that would ideally short out and destroy any craft it caught, or kill any living being in their grasp. The witch was proud of the design and felt a measure of confidence that even Voltron's famed blazing sword might not be able to slice through them all, since they had one other advantage—the matrix from which the tentacles were constructed was connected by electrical impulse to the main part, and a severed piece could still do damage if it was within close range enough to receive the transmitted signal from a neighboring chunk of metal to work in harmony with it.

The last, and the witch's personal favorite, aspect of the robeast that Haggar felt would make it an especially deadly foe for Voltron, was its advanced AI. In the past, her robeasts had used the standard AI their robots were programmed with, or they were sentient creatures that had been transformed into robeasts and retained that awareness. The AI of that robeast, however, was completely different. It had been obtained from a rather unique life form native to a planet that Doom had a contract with, the same planet that manufactured their robotic sentries for them, a world called Robear. The planet was populated by a civilization of robotic bear-like creatures that could best be described as the living link between machine and flesh. Their base was metal, and their biological processes—or the equivalent—were inorganic, yet they were sentient and mirrored the characteristics of typical biological creatures, including growing tufts of a fur-like substance on parts of their frame.

It was from a Berbil that Haggar had taken the AI for her robeast. Of course, since Doom was on peaceful trading terms with the planet, she had acquired the creature through ill means, but the creatures, despite their advanced construction, were peaceful by nature and hence rather weak and easy to overpower. It had been simple enough to obtain one, especially since there were individuals in Doom's first circle of nobility that dealt directly with the Robear contracts. One noble in particular had a number of them staffing her estate, so Haggar had not even had to leave Doom itself to get the unfortunate test creature. She merely had to pay a mercenary to obtain it for her, one that would be disposable if caught, and the common soldier in need of a significant sum to pay off a debt in exchange for his services had worked out nicely enough.

From beside the old witch, Lotor evaluated the beast silently for several moments before turning to her to give his opinion. "It looks hideously vicious, but then again, so do all your creations," the prince told her. "One might think that you model them after yourself."

The witch's eyes darkened with insult. "Only in that they are dangerous if provoked, Prince Lotor."

"Hmm," Lotor said thoughtfully, brushing off the sulky threat in her tone as unimportant. "Well old witch, if what you say is true, then this robeast might give Voltron a run for his money. If we could put even one of the lions out of commission permanently with it, it would give us a great advantage. You're certain that it's ready to be taken into battle?"

"As ready as I can be on any beast that hasn't been fully tested at its full size," the witch assured him. "But it has performed well in this form, so I don't see why it wouldn't at its optimized state."

"Fine then," Lotor said, drawing himself to an authoritative posture. "Make the preparations for it at once. We will head to Arus and launch the attack as soon as possible."

* * *

Several hours later, one of Doom's most powerful battleships, the _Drikelm-Skor,_ entered Arus' airspace. Prince Lotor was in command of the craft and the mission, and accompanying him were the witch Haggar and fleet commander Cossack, as well as a host of robots. "We've been scanned and detected by a signal originating in the Castle of Lions," one of the robots at the console announced. "Defense shields raised."

"Good, let them see us and fire," Lotor said nonchalantly. "Let them waste their energy firing at us so that this robeast can lay waste to that castle and those miserable lions."

Another robot turned around. "Incoming transmission!"

Cossack walked over to the console. "Don't stand there looking stupid, tin-head, put it on screen already."

The robot did as ordered and a moment later the face of Coran, the Castle of Lions' diplomat, filled their central monitor. The Arusian man had a stern look on his face as he regarded those on the bridge of the invading battleship. "Invading vessel from planet Doom, this is your first and only warning. Leave our airspace immediately or we will be forced to assume your intent is hostile and start an attack."

Strutting to the center of the floor, Lotor faced the monitor arrogantly. "You don't need to assume anything," the prince replied confidently, "because our intent _is _hostile!" He glanced over at his companions. "Cossack!"

The blue-skinned commander looked up with an eager and vicious grin on his face. "Yes, sire?"

"Show our friends on planet Arus exactly how hostile we intend to be with a few choice welcoming blasts."

"As you wish, sire," Cossack agreed with a nod, and with the help of the robots at the panel, released a barrage of laser fire at the Castle of Lions below and its surrounding grounds.

On the other end of the transmission, Coran gasped audibly, but then regained his stern countenance with a measure of controlled anger. "You have given us no choice. Prepare to face a counter attack."

With that the screen went blank, and Haggar giggled wickedly. "Oh, I thought they'd never ask!"

Cossack looked up from the console. "They're firing their turret guns back at us and raised their shields, but nothing's getting through to us."

Lotor nodded. "Good. Keep drawing their fire, while Haggar releases her new pet."

"Right away, Prince Lotor," Haggar agreed. The hooded figure quickly exited the bridge to deploy her robeast, and a moment later a coffin-shaped vessel came out of the side of the _Drikelm-Skor_ carrying the witch's creation. Haggar herself remained behind in the battleship, but by the shuttlecraft bay where she could channel her magic directly to the creature once it climbed out. Although the battleship had the means to magnify the beast itself, she wanted to add her own personal touch to that robeast. It was a prototype and as one she had put a lot of effort into, it was a creation she was proud of.

A robot at another console spoke up as it read the signal of five incoming enemy crafts of a distinctive—and to those on Doom, notorious—shape. "Incoming lions, Prince Lotor!"

"Wonderful," Lotor said with a cruelly pleased grin. "They're coming at us with such energy. That Voltron Force has certainly become trigger-happy these days. One might even be able to argue that _they're_ the warmongerers." Of course, Lotor was well aware that Arus had every reason to assume hostile intent from Doom, but why quibble over details?

"They didn't have much of a problem blowing up your fake asteroid Doom, that's for sure," Cossack agreed form his seat at the control station. "So much for their high and mighty moral preaching. It's enough to make you lose your lunch, I tell ya."

Lotor nodded. "Indeed. Now it's our turn to make them lose theirs. Let's shake up them up a little." He lifted the communicator piece and addressed the witch awaiting his orders. "Haggar, release the robeast."

The witch answered with a cackle, and a moment later, the robeast emerged from its coffin. Immediately one of the robots, already quite familiar with the procedure, fired the ship's enhancement beam on the creature, while Haggar concentrated her own magical energy into the beam to magnify its strength. Cossack meanwhile kept the ships weapon systems firing heavily on the Castle of Lions below.

"The castle's defenses are at 67 percent," one of the robots reported. "Our shields are still holding at 54."

"That robeast better get those lions' fire off of us soon or we won't hold out long at that rate," Cossack pointed out.

Lotor frowned irritably at the commander. "Yes, fool, I know that. I can do the math," he snapped. "Frankly I'm surprised _you_ can."

"Just keeping you on top of things," Cossack grumbled back, mildly irritated at the insult, as he concentrated a blast on the central tower of the Castle of Lions. He was pleased to see that a portion of the energy did some damage, even if it was more cosmetic than structural.

The sound of high-pitched, wicked laughter filled the speakers of the room, followed by a clearly delighted announcement from Haggar. "My pet has gone off to play with the lions!"

Grinning confidently, Lotor strode closer to the monitor. "Put it on screen. Let's watch this little show."

Immediately a robot pressed a button and the image of the skies around them filled the large monitor of the battleship. All five lions were out and engaged in battle with their main ship and the smaller ships that accompanied it, but had just flown back to regroup when they saw the hideous monstrosity that Haggar had set loose upon them. It charged at the lions mercilessly, aiming first at the closest lion, which happened to be the red one, and with a roar snagged its leg in a snare of liquefied cables.

"He exceeds my expectations," Haggar noted with a vicious gleam in her eyes as she returned to the bridge.

"He is performing well so far," Lotor agreed, "but the battle isn't won yet."

Cossack glanced over, noticing that the yellow and blue lions were in the process of trying to free the red lion from the cables. "As long as we keep those lions tangled, and they can't form Voltron, we can pick them off one by one."

Haggar nodded. "It will be easier for us if Voltron never gets formed."

"Then he won't be," Lotor asserted, and picked up the communicator, keying in the frequency to broadcast directly to the robeast. With a ferocious growl the prince of Doom ordered, "Tear that red lion apart!"

* * *

On the opposite end of the battle, the Voltron Force was not feeling nearly as optimistic about the whole situation. Struggling fruitlessly to break free of the robeast's cable hold, Lance winced in pain as a lazon-powered shock tore into the body of the lion, through the console, and into his body. "This thing is trying to fry me," he snarled, shaking the sting off his hands for a moment. "If you've got any tricks for cutting me free, now'd be a good time to try them."

"What the hell is that thing, anyway?" Hunk demanded from over in yellow lion. "I've sliced and burned through more tentacles than I can count, and it just keeps making more."

"We'll get you free, Lance," Allura told the red lion pilot reassuringly, although her voice was not without a noticeable measure of concern. "We won't let anything happen to you."

"You've got that right," Keith agreed, and brought the black lion around to a position where it was in a better position to attack the robeast's head. "Pidge, you and I will concentrate our fire on this thing's head. If we can short it out, it might disrupt whatever's controlling those cables long enough for yellow and blue lions to break him free."

The green lion was at the black lion's side in a second. "You got it, Keith!" Pidge replied. Immediately the two opened fire on the robeast's back, flying in at opposite angles.

The robeast's reaction to the attack was not as the Voltron Force intended. While it did respond to the assault from the black and green lions with an intense burst of laser fire from its eye crown that seared into the airspace above it, causing both attacking lions to evade to avoid the full brunt of the blast, its grip and attention to red lion and its assisting lions did not waver in the slightest.

A second and more powerful shock ripped through red lion, causing Lance to scream out in pain. Red lion thrashed helplessly, clawing and spitting liquid fire all around in a last-ditch attempt to melt the tentacles, but to no avail.

"Damn it!" Hunk swore angrily.

"Since when did these things learn to multi-task so well?" an equally upset Pidge asked. Although the youngest member of the Voltron force's voice was calmer than Hunk's, it was evident to all of his teammates that he was just as agitated and worried as the more vocal Hunk.

Keith growled as he returned fire on the creature, targeting its eyes to try and diminish its crown-laser attack. "This thing doesn't operate like any of the robeasts I remember. It's like it's thinking on its own, but not like when we fought ones like Prince Avok or that Haggar transformed. Almost like it has better concentration."

"I think it _is_ a machine," Allura offered. "It doesn't even resemble any creature I've seen on any of the planets we know of, even as a mutated version."

Slicing through a few of the cables on its torso with a recently freed front claw, Lance growled as he shook off a piece of the molten tentacle, already reforming into its hardened gripping form. "I'm no expert, but that's gotta have the most advanced AI I've seen yet."

"I hope Doom didn't acquire something like that for all their forces on some planet they acquired," Keith said worriedly. "Otherwise we've got our work cut out for us."

Pidge flew down alongside the robeast at high speed, trying to slice it with one of the green lion's mouth-knives. "I sure would feel better if we could form Voltron and take this thing on." He glanced at the monitor showing the heavy assault the Castle of Lions was under from the attacking battleship. "I don't know how well the castle defenses will hold without us to draw the fire."

Hearing the castle mentioned, Allura glanced at her monitor and felt a stab of heartache when she saw the damage the castle had already taken. Without the lions to disable the attacking ship, it was slowly falling under the heavy fire from the _Drikelm-Skor_. While the Castle of Lions was a fortress that could withstand a forceful assault, it would not hold forever, and she knew that Lotor had likely studied the castle's structure, defenses, and limitations prior to attacking, and had sent a force that could appropriately deal with it while the robeast distracted kept Voltron and its lions' hands full. "That's all the more reason to break free and form Voltron as soon as we can," the princess said, a hard and determined edge to her voice.

Lance grimaced as another shock went through the red lion, although not as violent as some of the prior ones had been, as he had successfully freed all but its back right leg, and with fast enough movement and enough fire blasts, had managed to keep the rest of its limbs from being re-ensnared. "If you guys can cut my ass loose, we can be up and forming in no time. I've got as much power as I can set to thrusters as soon as I can switch over. Just cut the cord and I'm gone."

Over in yellow lion, now more occupied with trying to keep itself from the trapping grip of the lazon tentacles of the robeast rather than able to do much for Lance, Hunk sent an elemental attack at a thick stream of the liquefied metal that lunged toward yellow lion's neck. "I'm all for that, just give me a second. This thing seems to be getting friendly with me now."

Aggressively and decisively Princess Allura pushed the blue lion forward. "You just get yourself out of there, Hunk. It hasn't paid me much attention yet. I'll free you."

"Be careful, Princess," Keith's voice warned over the speaker as he expertly guided black lion out of the way of more eye-crown fire. He had disabled a few of its sights and while the going was slow, the Voltron Force captain took that as a point of victory nonetheless. "Don't gamble _too _heavily that Lotor won't want to see you hurt. Remember what believing he changed got us the last time."

"I don't trust him, but I do have the advantage regardless. Don't worry about me, Keith!" With that Allura sent the blue lion charging headlong into the fray, its mouth open in a powerful roar, and sank its teeth directly into the cables holding the red lion's foot hostage.

The sharp metal tore through the cables easily, almost liquefying them beneath the steel teeth, but as they had discovered earlier on in the battle the ease with which the tentacles were cut was quite deceptive. The red lion lurched high into the air immediately after being freed, and shook off all but a few remaining droplets of the liquid cable, which reformed in the air and came after him of their own free will, but those were easily dodged and subsequently targeted once in flight.

Hunk took that as his cue to pull back with the yellow lion, and he was already well on his way away from the beast when he called out to the blue lion. "Good work, Princess! Remind us not to get you to bare your teeth to us," he said with a relieved smile that quickly changed to alarm when no answer was forthcoming, and the monitor on his console indicated that the blue lion had _not _followed him out of there as they had planned.

Pidge, too, immediately noticed what had happened with the princess. From the green lion's position underneath blue lion, near the ground dodging an onslaught of tentacles that sprang out of nowhere at him from the robeast's lower legs after his earlier attempt to cut it open, he saw to his horror that the cables blue lion had chewed through with its mouth had melted inside it, and then reformed—effectively spilling into the interior of the craft and choking it from within. Before any of them could react, more tentacles sprang forth from the robeast, ensnaring the blue lion in a cable-net far more intricate than the one the red lion had just been freed from.

"Princess!" Pidge exclaimed, his young eyes wide in horror.

"Allura, can you get out of there?" Captain Keith's voice was not without its own measure of alarm, an ominous sign in and of itself for one who tried so hard to keep a cool head even when things were dire.

Hunk and Lance's reactions were less innocent and eloquent. The former just growled in a mixture of fear and outrage for the princess and anger at those harming her, while the latter narrowed his eyes worriedly and cursed. "Shit!" The red lion pilot felt more than a shade guilty that it was saving his hide that had put her in such a position.

Allura's only answer was a strangled cry of pain as the tentacles tightened their grip and the impulses of the beast's lazon-shock attack poured into the trapped blue lion at full force.

* * *

Aboard the _Drikelm-Skor_, Prince Lotor's expression went from smugly pleased to horrified outrage when he saw that it was blue lion being targeted and destroyed by his beast. "Witch!" he roared in fury, "what is your beast doing?"

"He is attacking the lions as ordered, sire. He obeys your command," Haggar replied quickly.

"You know that I don't want the princess harmed!" Lotor's tone held a surprising note of worry, especially as the sound of Allura's pained scream came over the speakers. "Get your pet off of her now!"

"Why couldn't he have just held onto _red _lion?" Cossack muttered from the panel. Still focusing his attack on the Castle of Lions, the commander was glad he had nothing to do with the robeast ordeal. As it was, he had the castle defenses down to an estimated 23 percent, but the battleship's own shielding force field was only left at 28 percent. Slowly they were wearing the castle down, but it was going to be close.

Haggar frowned as she reached for the communications console, watching the image of blue lion sparking and struggling in the death grip the robeast had it in. Lotor snatched it from the witch before she could speak to it however. "Robeast! Stop attacking blue lion this instant!" Lotor snarled in a rage. "You are only to stun or stall blue lion, and the pilot is not to be harmed! Destroy the other lions!"

Its actions showing no heed toward Lotor's command, the robeast tightened its grip on the blue lion and sent another powerful shock through it, that time intense enough to knock the princess unconscious. "Robeast, no!" the prince bellowed, his voice taking on an edge of desperation. "Stop!"

A mechanical voice replied over the speakers. "Command illogical. Destruction of the target is vital to prime instruction of prevent formation of Voltron."

"I am the Prince of Doom, and I order you to stop! Now!" The boom of Lotor's authoritative voice filled the bridge, powerful enough to make all of those present, living and robot alike, give pause.

"Order invalidated," was the robeast's calm reply. "Prime instructions must be carried out." The robeast lashed more tentacles around the captive blue lion and began to tear as it electrified its prey, causing the metal of the lion to squeal and spark as its circuitry was violated and ripped. Meanwhile it continued to swat more tentacles and fire its eye-lasers at the four other lions that moved in with ferocity to try and free their captive fifth with little success.

"He's not listening," Haggar murmured, simultaneously awed and frustrated with her creation. "It must be the advanced AI. It's thinking for itself enough to invalidate orders that go against its programmed instructions. Incredible!"

Wheeling around in fury, Lotor drew his sword and held it at the witch's throat. "A robeast that thinks well enough to not follow orders is useless! Get it under control and stop it, old witch! If Allura dies, I assure you it will be the _last _thing you ever create!"

"I—I'll try, sire," Haggar agreed nervously, and took the communication unit in hand to address her rebellious creation. "Robeast, I am the one that gave you life. As your creator, I am changing your prime instruction to include not harming blue lion or its pilot. Release it at once!"

The robeast's response made it clear that it was no more willing to listen to its creator than it was to its prince. "Alteration of prime instruction illogical. No tactical purpose served in saving enemy craft and pilot. Destruction imminent." The creature began to glow with sinister intent as it powered up for a final and destructive lazon blast.

"It's not listening!" With an angry snarl, Lotor went to Cossack's side. "Take that robeast down, now!" he ordered, pointing his glowing saber warningly at the console. "I don't care about the castle, I don't care about the other lions! I do not want Allura harmed any more so than she has been already!"

Despite knowing how counterproductive it was to their own purposes, Cossack knew it would be more counterproductive to his status as a living and breathing being to point that out, so he only nodded obediently and did as the prince ordered. "Right away, sire." He turned to the robots. "You heard him, tin heads, take it down. Divert whatever power you can to the shields so the Castle of Lions doesn't blow us out of the sky, but don't return fire until that robeast is out of commission."

Lotor meanwhile ran toward the back of the craft.

"Prince Lotor, where are you going?" Haggar asked.

"To make sure that robeast goes down myself," the prince replied as he ran out to the shuttle bay where he boarded his own smaller fighter craft held within. Just before he closed the hatch, he looked back at the witch in the doorway to the bridge. "You'd better pray to whatever gods you serve that the princess hasn't met hers, or else you _will _be meeting yours when I return." With that Lotor slammed the hatch shut and powered up his ship. Moments later it blasted out of the hangar bay into the fray of battle, bound for the captive blue lion.

* * *

Chaos unfolded in the open air of the battlefield on the other side as well. "She's not responding," Pidge said, his high voice clearly panicked and struggling to hold back tears. "Those cables are tearing her apart."

"And we can't get at them," Hunk echoed. "Damn, damn, damn!" He slammed his fist on the console as he fired another blast at the tentacles holding blue lion, but like before, it only sent more to ensnare him and the ones he severed seemed to regenerate within seconds of being blown apart.

"There's got to be some way to get her out of there," Keith said determinedly.

"But how?" Lance asked, before noticing the new blip on his console warning him of incoming fire. "The battleship is firing on us! Look out!"

"Wait," Pidge corrected from green lion. "That wasn't aimed at us. They fired on the robeast."

Keith glanced at his panel and noticed the approach of Lotor's ship, and that it subsequently fired upon the robeast as well. "What the…"

"They've stopped firing on the castle," Hunk confirmed. "It sounds crazy, but it looks like they're trying to take it down too."

"Think they lost control of it?" a puzzled Lance asked. "Or do you think Lotor actually came out because the princess was taking the heat? I know he claims to love her, but…"

Over in yellow lion, Hunk shook his head. "I have a hard time believing that."

"Believe it or not, there he is," Pidge confirmed with obvious surprise. "He's fighting his own robeast!"

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Maybe we ought to let them take each other out."

"Wish we could, but there's no time for that," Keith chimed in with a shake of his head. "The princess needs us to get her out of there, and if that means helping Lotor, then so be it." He flew black lion into a position to give Lotor's ship backup fire, stopping the tentacles lashing out at his ship as he melted the ones surrounding blue lion.

"What do you want us to do, Keith? Cover you or move in?" Hunk asked.

There was a moment of silence as Keith considered before giving his answer. "Go in if you can, but beware of the heavy fire. That battleship might be trying to take out the beast, but it won't hurt any less if those lasers hit us. And you already know to stay clear of the tentacles."

"Right," the other three lion pilots replied in unison.

* * *

On the bridge of the _Drikelm-Skor_, Haggar stood next to Cossack, who had assumed command in Lotor's absence as the next highest-ranking military officer. "Seems like such a waste to kill that thing," the commander muttered, irritated that a battle that had been going so well was being tossed into the proverbial toilet over Princess Allura at Lotor's command, as his robots targeted it and laid heavy fire into it, tearing its back open.

"It really was my finest creation, almost like bringing a robot machine to life," the old witch mused. "If it had been any other lion, Voltron might never have formed again."

Cossack surveyed the scene as a second explosion tore into the back of the robeast's leg, causing it to stumble. "Maybe that's not a lost cause… the blue lion was pretty damaged." He glanced over at Haggar. "Let's just hope that its pilot wasn't, for your sake. I'd miss your ugly mug around here."

"Your concern is overwhelming," Haggar grumbled at the commander with clear sarcasm as a blast hit the battleship, causing the lights to drop and alarms to blare—signaling that the shielding system had reached a critically low level of 5 percent.

Knowing full well what the alarms meant, Cossack let loose with an impressive string of curses and turned toward one of the robots, which immediately gave the commander a status report. "Shields to 5 percent. Castle of Lions returning fire heavily. Robeast tentacles currently being deflected," it informed him. "Estimation of deflector power loss within two minutes. Retreat and withdrawal recommended."

Cossack cursed again, while Haggar gripped her staff tightly, full of unspent frustration and anger. "We were _so_ close."

"Ready the ship for a retreat and get us the hell out of here," Cossack ordered with an equally aggravated sigh. He deployed a final barrage of fire both at the robeast and the Castle of Lions, more as a final act of figuratively giving them the bird with weaponry than as an actual tactical maneuver. The final shots from the _Drikelm-Skor_ struck the injured robeast in the head, blowing it in half, and lowered the Castle of Lions' shielding systems to 8 percent, but that was significantly more than they had left as the engines switched into high gear and pulled them back out into deep space.

When they were safely out of firing range and on their way back to Doom, Haggar sighed and slumped against one of the consoles. Cossack flopped into one of the chairs and folded his arms across his chest sulkily. "Well, that sucked."

"My finest creation, and he ordered it destroyed. We had Voltron's lions dead to rights." She shook her head. "King Zarkon is right, he _is _a fool for that princess, a hopeless one. I just hope she isn't the death of him."

"Or you, if Pinky got hurt bad," Cossack said with a thoughtful frown. "But she's probably okay. Those lions seem pretty durable, unfortunately for us, so maybe in this case that's a good thing. And Prince Lotor's a pretty resourceful kind of guy. He's gotten out of worse scrapes than that, and it looked like we pretty much had the robeast iced by the time we pulled out," the commander finished with a slight note of optimism, and then shrugged. "I'm just not looking forward to explaining this to King Zarkon when we get back. I'm glad he's off on some other planet for a few days."

"Me too," Haggar agreed with a second sigh. "Me too."

* * *

As the two Doomites aboard the _Drikelm-Skor_ had predicted, the final shots from battle had indeed turned the tide of the ground fight against the powerful robeast.

Both the Voltron pilots and Lotor noticed the departure of the Doom battleship, but neither was terribly concerned with it given their preoccupation with the out of control robeast in front of them. Lotor had not engaged in any communication with the lion pilots, but he noticed that they were working in tandem with him to help the princess, and he decided that he would deal with them after he was assured of Allura's safety. As his ship fired relentlessly through the tentacles tearing the now severely damaged blue lion apart, he could almost hear his father's disapproving voice in the back of his head, calling him a lovesick idiot that was unfit to be even a prince, much less a future king of an empire, but he ignored it. All the agitated prince could think about was Allura—his beautiful Arusian treasure, the one he wanted for his bride, his love, and his amusement—the one destined, in his eyes, to be his.

The Voltron Force meanwhile had no time to question the motives as to Lotor's sudden switch in tactics from evil to heroic, as they too were more concerned with Princess Allura's safety than anything else. When the robeast's head exploded from the last shot from the battleship, the green and red lions had attacked the beast's feet, causing it topple over with a loud crash that brought about more explosions. The AI controlling them damaged beyond use, the tentacles flopped and sparked randomly and without direction, making them still hazardous and treacherous to navigate around but not nearly as dangerous as when they were actively being controlled. Lotor's ship and the black lion aggressively cut through the tentacles still holding blue lion captive, while yellow lion maneuvered in to help drag the unresponsive blue lion away from the downed robeast and to safety.

As soon as the yellow lion got the blue lion safely out of range, the green and red lions opened fire on the damaged and thrashing robeast on the ground to blast it apart one and for all. Letting out one final painful roar of defiance, the half-sentient and half-machine creature succumbed to its damage and rolled over silent before its power core exploded in a brilliant display of sparks.

Unfortunately for Lotor, his ship was not quite as durable as the black lion, and as it and black lion made haste to land beside the fallen blue lion to check on her safety, a fireball from the explosion caught the prince's ship and damaged its back end beyond repair. Lotor struggled to remain in control of his vessel, but to no avail, and it crashed to the ground in a hard impact, twisting into an ugly and unsalvageable hunk of metal as it scraped across rock and grass to a standstill.

Ignoring the fallen ship of the prince of Doom, the Voltron force pilots climbed out of their lions and immediately went to blue lion to see if Allura was all right. "Allura!" Keith exclaimed, pulling on the hatch. "Hang on!"

Hunk shoved his way over alongside Keith. "Let me give you a hand," he offered, and with Keith's assistance, pulled the bent metal open so that they could get inside.

"Please be all right, Princess," Pidge said plaintively, peering into the opening and simultaneously hoping for the best and fearing the worst.

"Man, that robeast did a number on it…" Lance murmured, noting how severe the blue lion's damage was up close. "Even if she's ok, I don't think this thing will ever fly again."

Keith slipped in through the hatch and found Allura unconscious in her chair, but to his immense relief still breathing and from the looks of it, not suffering any life-threatening wounds. "She's alive," the captain called out immediately, bringing an equally relieved breath from the other members of the Voltron Force. "But I think we ought to get her to the castle and to the med bay right away. She looks ok for the most part, but she might have internal injuries."

"If he hurt her bad, I'm gonna tear Lotor apart myself," Hunk grumbled as he helped Keith hoist the injured princess out of the damaged lion.

Lance glanced over at the wreckage of the prince's ship. "Karma might've already done that for you, Hunk. That crash doesn't look like it was a soft one."

"And the crazy thing is, he was helping us at the end there," Pidge said, shaking his head.

"Helping to fix a mess _he_ created with that robeast," Keith said, an angry edge to his tone.

Allura stirred groggily in the captain's arms. "Keith?" she murmured. "What… what happened?"

"You'll be ok, Princess," Lance told her, leaning over her with a reassuring smile. "That robeast did a number on blue lion, but we took him down."

From beside him, Pidge nodded while Keith pulled off her helmet to make sure she had not suffered a head injury. He was relieved to see nothing out of place aside from a few strands of her golden hair. "We were worried about you."

"I'm okay," the princess said softly, blinking as if trying to focus and get her bearings. "Just a little tired. Dizzy." Keith eased her to the ground into a standing position, and when she stumbled both he and Hunk held her upright.

"Easy there, Princess," Hunk told her, keeping a firm grip on her shoulder.

Allura glanced around, and it was then that she noticed the downed Doom ship in the distance with the smoldering remains of the robeast behind it. "What happened? Is that one of their ships?"

Nodding, Lance knelt beside her. "When you charged in there to free my lion, the tentacles got a good grip on you. Things got a little heated, and best we can figure is Lotor came out to stop them from hurting you."

"He must've ordered something like that," Pidge added, "because their ship started firing on the robeast too before it took off."

The princess blinked and stared at the ship, feeling a strange mixture of emotion at the idea that Lotor had nearly succeeded in a serious attack on their planet and her castle, but had stopped it all and intervened when she had been in harm's way. It had not been the first time he had acted in such a way, and it made her wonder just how deep the prince's feelings for her ran. She knew he claimed to love her, but she always assumed it was because he wanted to possess her. But to take such risks for a mere possession…

She sighed. "Is he all right?"

The four other Voltron pilots looked back at her blankly.

"You _did_ check on him, didn't you?"

"You were our first priority, Princess," Keith told her, surprised that she was already concerned about Lotor's welfare when he was the one responsible for what had happened to her. He knew, all of them did, that she was compassionate and would likely insist on checking on Lotor—in fact, they eventually would have themselves, without her prodding, given their own consciences—but to do so that soon was unexpected, even from one as kind-hearted as Princess Allura.

"We had to make sure you were all right," Hunk added.

Allura looked over and winced, both at the ugly sight of the crash and because of her physical wooziness. "Please check on him now," she urged her teammates. "He did go out of his way to save me. We owe him that."

Lance frowned, but he got to his feet anyway. "I don't think we owe him much of anything, but all right."

Joining the red lion pilot's side, Keith sighed. "No, she's right. Much as I hate to do it, we should make sure he's alive. If we let him die we wouldn't be any better than he is. Pidge, you stay here with her. Princess, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be walking around just yet."

"I for one hope Lotor's alive and well," Hunk said with a frown, "so I can put my boot right up his blue ass in person."

"Hunk!" Allura exclaimed, getting uneasily to her feet as she did so. "He helped save my life!"

"Don't worry, I won't," Hunk assured her, and smiled ruefully at her as he left her with Pidge to join the others on their way to the crash site. "I'd just like to, that's all."

Ignoring Keith's warning, Allura followed after the guys, and Pidge trailed behind her. "Princess!"

"I'm fine, Pidge," Allura replied. Keith looked back at the two of them, and the princess met his gaze with an unyielding one of her own. "I want to speak to Lotor myself."

The group fell silent as they made their way over to the ship. They were within ten feet of it when the hatch came open and Lotor stumbled out. The prince of Doom was not in bad shape considering the wreckage he had emerged from, thanks to his helmet and the sturdy build of the pilot's seat of his ship, but he had also seen better days as well. He had a number of minor abrasions and his clothes were scratched and dirtied with blood from superficial cuts. His entire body ached from the force of the crash, but he had been fortunate enough to suffer no broken bones or internal injuries. He noticed the Voltron Force approaching, but his eyes fixed on the princess in the back immediately. "Allura…"

"Don't touch her," Keith warned, not advancing toward the prince aggressively, but standing protectively in front of the Arusian princess.

A scowl crossed Lotor's face when he heard the Voltron Force captain's words. "I wasn't addressing you," he informed him coldly before returning his gaze to Allura. "You're unharmed," he said, his eyes brightening unmistakably as he met hers. "I'm glad." He took a step toward her, and immediately the rest of the Voltron force took a step in front of her to keep him from her.

Frowning at what she considered their misguided over-protectiveness, Allura gently pushed past Lance and Pidge and stood in the center of the group, facing Lotor. "He's not going to hurt me," she told them pointedly. "He's in no shape for that. You can see that, can't you?" She looked back over at Lotor. "Are you all right?"

Lotor nodded, while the men of the Voltron force exchanged dubious looks. "No offense, Princess, but this wouldn't be the first time Lotor's lied and pulled a fast one about what kind of state he was in to get to you," Lance pointed out, eyeing the prince with heavy suspicion.

Pidge nodded in agreement with the red lion pilot. "He could be lying about this as easily as he lied about turning good or about wanting to marry Queen Merla when they led us to that fake planet Doom."

"I'd sooner believe that Merla changed as opposed to Lotor, at any rate," Keith asserted, also eyeing Lotor warily, and preparing to leap in front of the princess if need be. He noticed that Lotor still had a sheathed sword at his side, and he knew that Lotor would not be above feigning injury to lure her close enough to take her hostage, even if he didn't have a ship to get away in.

Lotor's glare at the Voltron force pilots hardened. "If I wanted to see Allura hurt, I would have let Haggar's beast finish the job it did on blue lion," he snapped haughtily. "I certainly would not have left my ship behind and destroyed my own just to stop it," he added, before taking another step toward the princess. "I'm sorry if I caused you pain." His voice softened considerably as he addressed her. "You must know I did not want that."

Hunk made a face at what he considered the biggest line of bull yet to come from the prince. "Funny, Lotor, I would think attacking her planet would cause her a lot of pain."

Casting a disgusted scowl at the yellow lion pilot, Lotor reached for Allura's hand and took it in his as he addressed Hunk's remark. "I invade this planet on my father's orders, my father who once dueled for this planet and was met with resistance when he stepped in to claim it as his. He wants Arus in his empire, not destroyed. It is your resistance that destroys it. The only part of Arus with any personal meaning to me is right here." Lotor looked to the startled princess' eyes. "You know that I would never allow harm to come you."

Allura frowned and wrenched her hand away from him. "I wish I could believe that, Lotor."

The prince's eyes clouded at her harsh words. "Don't you? If you truly meant nothing to me, wouldn't I be on that ship claiming victory on this planet over your downed lion and dead body?"

"I—I believe that you care, Lotor," Allura admitted finally. "At least in that you care as deeply as someone like you could."

_"As deeply as someone like you could."_ Her words sliced through Doom's prince like a knife, and her gentle voice cut him more deeply than any blade. _She believes me incapable of love,_ Lotor realized, and the ache of his battered body suddenly felt quite intense, nearly unbearable. In the back of his head, Lotor could almost hear his father's cruel laughter, taunting and insulting him with all of the insults and insinuations of weakness he'd been subject to over the years and especially since he had fallen so hard for the Arusian princess. It mingled with the bitter laughter of Merla's, calling him a fool as she had when she'd last seen him, and it drained the last bit of the prince's strength.

"I care more than you know," Lotor managed to reply through the shroud of unwelcome emotion that welled up inside him. "More than you will let yourself know. Someday, I _will_ prove that to you."

Before Allura could answer, a sarcastic remark came from Lance's direction. "He's breakin' my heart over here," the red lion pilot muttered, giving quiet voice to the sentiment shared by the male pilots of the Voltron Force.

"And he is breaking the law here," Coran's stern voice cut in from the side. Both Lotor and the Voltron Force turned around in surprise, and saw the Arusian diplomat standing there with a heavy armed force of castle guardsmen behind him. "Arrest that man," he ordered, pointing to Lotor. "Bring him into custody immediately. He is a danger to this planet and everyone on it."

Immediately the guardsmen surrounded Lotor as ordered. The prince stood in protest and went to draw his sword on them to fight, but in his injured and battle weary state he was easily overpowered. The glowing sword fell to the ground quickly when six guards surrounded and subdued Lotor with several blasts from stun guns. Distressed by the violent sight and with the knowledge that Lotor was there because he had intervened to save her, Allura ran between the diplomat and the captured prince of Doom. "Coran, wait!"

Coran shook his head, making it clear he would hear no argument. "After nearly losing you in battle today, Princess, I am taking no chances with your safety." He turned to the guardsmen. "I want this man brought into the castle, placed into holding, and heavily guarded."

"But he's injured!" Allura protested, as the men began to drag the fallen Lotor, still struggling as best he could in their grasp fruitless as it was, toward the Castle of Lions.

"I say let 'em bleed, he'll live without a band-aid," Hunk muttered.

Allura shot a glare back at Hunk, but continued to argue with Coran. "I know what he's done, but he did save—"

"I too know what he's done. I know what he nearly did to you, what he did to the blue lion that may very well never fly again, and what he's done and tried to do to our planet," Coran cut the young princess off sternly. "If you feel that this scoundrel should have medical attention, then he will have it. _In_ his cell and under heavy guard."

Lotor looked over at Allura as the guards hauled him away, the gaze of his yellow eyes heavy upon her as they hauled him off. She waited for him to say something, but he remained silent. As a result, so did she.

"This isn't right," Allura murmured softly as the prince was taken away, and Coran stalked off staunchly behind them to ensure that his orders were followed out exactly.

Pidge looked up at Allura reassuringly. "They won't hurt him."

"Yeah, here on Arus, we treat prisoners a lot better than his people do on Doom," Hunk asserted. It was his thought that imprisonment was too good for someone like Lotor, but he had the taste to keep his sentiments to himself knowing how the princess would react.

A cloud of uncertainty settling over her, Allura started for the castle. "And what do we do then, once we have him?"

Keith eyed the princess curiously, wondering exactly what it was that she was thinking, and feeling a touch of unease in the way she looked at the captured prince's retreating form. "That's up to you," he said quietly, and then softly added, "Princess."

* * *

It was over two hours later when Lotor awakened, having passed out from exhaustion shortly after being hauled into the Castle of Lions. As Coran had ordered, the captured prince of Doom had been placed in a cell—a moderately sized incarceration area with a cot, sink, and bare necessities, and a barred door that seemed to Lotor more like a cage than the sort of cell he was accustomed to. Back on Doom, as Hunk had pointed out earlier, prisoners were rarely treated with such comparatively luxurious surroundings. As per Princess Allura's orders, Dr. Gorma, the castle physician, had been sent in to check on Lotor shortly after he was imprisoned. After declaring Lotor's injuries minor and treating what scrapes he had topically, the doctor had left with the note that the enemy prince would be fine with a little rest—which of course, was all Lotor could do given the circumstances.

The time passed quickly for Allura as well. Almost as soon as Lotor was taken into custody, the Voltron Force had brought the lions back only to find that the blue lion was severely damaged, far worse than any of them realized. The black and yellow lions had been used to haul the non-functioning lion back, and once it was placed on its pedestal in the bottom of the lake, a crew was put to work immediately to begin repairs.

The report came back quickly that although they had not had the time to go through every inch of the broken lion thoroughly, by appearances it was irreparable. The fine circuitry was torn to shreds and melted from the shocks and heat of the liquid tentacles, and the power cells were damaged beyond repair. None of the lions had ever suffered such extensive physical damage previously, and none of them really had any idea how to repair it, as technical experts on Arus were a rarity. Of the ones that had not died during the years of the war fighting off Doom, those that remained still had no knowledge of the Voltron lions. Even Marianne, the Caspian robot expert Coran knew and who he had contacted immediately about the matter, said she would come and look at it but had little faith that she could repair something as advanced as one of Voltron's lions. The lions were things of legend, after all, and part of that legend was that they ran to an extent on magic. Marianne had told him it was her experience that when something run on magic broke, more often than not, no matter how well it might be repaired physically, the odds were that it would never be the same again.

The worst implication of all of it, one that worried all of them at the Castle of Lions a great deal, was that once again they were without Voltron to defend them, much like they had been when Sven was injured years ago. Unfortunately that time it was not a pilot that could be replaced, but a lion itself—ironically, the same lion. Allura found herself wondering if her blue lion was cursed in some way. The Arusian princess prayed that she would get some kind of guidance or help from her father, but none came. She then worried if the destruction of a part of Voltron somehow cut her father's tie to the mortal plane, and if so, if that meant that all hope for restoring Voltron was lost. She hoped not, but even if that was the case, she knew that she could not depend on her father to fix things from beyond the grave, and another answer would have to be found.

Allura hoped that answer was Lotor. Although she had not discussed the matter of the prince at all with Coran or any of the Voltron Force members during the chaotic hours that followed the prince's arrest, he had been in her thoughts constantly. Normally she valued their input, but they were so distrusting of Lotor—and rightfully so, she supposed—that she had a feeling that they would refuse to listen to a thing he said. Allura, on the other hand, was not so quick to dismiss the possibility. Lotor _did_ have decency in him, even if it was buried under years of evil and cruelty, and she was willing to see if it could be brought out.

The prince lay awake in his cell silent and still when he heard Allura's voice down the hall dismiss the guards posted outside. Brightening at the prospect of a visit from her, he sat up as she approached. "Allura," he greeted her, climbing off the bed. "You came to see me."

"The doctor told me you weren't hurt badly in the crash," she said softly, feeling a measure of compassion as she looked over the defeated prince in the cell.

Lotor walked over to the cell door, not taking his eyes off of her for a moment. "Does that disappoint you?"

"No," she protested. "I mean, I'm glad you aren't hurt. I don't like seeing anyone hurt, Lotor… even someone like you."

"Someone who loves you enough to risk his very life to save yours?" he challenged.

Allura found herself uncomfortable under the weight of his gaze, wrestling with a feeling of inherent distrust of the man who had visited such ravages on her planet, and guilt for the fact that she knew his words to be true—at least, as true as anything Lotor said could be. But that was the source of the conflict, wasn't it, the princess realized in the silence that followed his remark. "Thank you for that," she said finally, and sincerely.

A small smile tugged at the captive prince's lips. "It was nothing I wouldn't do for you whenever you were in danger," Lotor replied. "And nothing I haven't done before… but it is the first time I've heard you tell me it meant something to you."

"Of course it did," Allura assured him softly, and she leaned closer to the bars, searching Lotor's blue face for a hint of anything that would give her insight into understanding him or his true motivations since she was not quite able to trust his words. She knew firsthand how deceptive those could be. "It did when you pulled me out of Merla's machine a few months ago, too," she admitted after a thoughtful pause. "I suppose I never told you."

Lotor's smile widened despite his circumstances. "You didn't," he confirmed as he reached a hand through the bars to take her hand, "nor after I stopped Merla from poisoning you by warning Captain Keith."

Allura frowned, but allowed Lotor to hold her hand. "What?"

"The poisoned mead that Merla had sent to the Castle of Lions for his birthday some time ago," Lotor told her as he caressed her fingers gently. "I was the one that warned him that it was laced with poison. He _did_ tell you that I was the one who told him that, didn't he?"

The look on Allura's face and her uncomfortable silence answered Lotor's question for him. His face darkened as he realized that his good deed had gone unnoted. _And my latest has not gone unpunished,_ the captive prince thought sourly as he noted the bars that held him there and separated him from the lovely princess in front of him.

"I suppose you probably don't believe that I had anything to do with that," Lotor said finally, his tone icy with bitterness. He released her hand and turned away, trying to keep his emotions in check. "After all, I've lied to you before. Why would I stop now? Perhaps you think it's just a ploy to gain your sympathy." He sighed. "You'd have no reason not to think it, wouldn't you?"

"No," Allura protested. "I do believe it, Lotor. I don't know why Keith didn't say anything, and I'm sure he had his reasons, but I _do_ believe you."

Lotor turned around and faced her again. "But you still don't believe me capable of loving you as I do."

"Lotor… I," she sighed uncomfortably, "I can't talk about that." Allura turned aside for a moment to collect her thoughts. "I need to think about my planet, and my duty to it."

When Lotor said nothing and only nodded, a disappointed look evident in his yellow eyes despite his silence, the princess continued. "Your attack destroyed blue lion," she admitted to him. "It may never fly again. That leaves us without Voltron, which I'm sure your father will be quite pleased to learn, if the crew of that battleship you brought here hasn't told him already. We only have one tool to bargain with to keep him from razing this planet to rock and dirt, and that's you. I might be able to grant you a measure of amnesty if you help us, Lotor, but—"

A cold and bitter laugh came from the prince upon hearing her words. "You mean so well, Allura," Lotor said quietly, and with a note of genuine admiration in his voice. "I believe you would give me sanctuary if I helped you. But that won't happen. For one, I am worthless to my father. I don't mean enough to him for him to barter or agree to peaceful terms with Arus for. And even if he _did_ agree to some sort of exchange, he'd turn around and have me attack as soon as I was free. You and I both know that."

Allura frowned. "I also know that you do have honor in you somewhere, Lotor. You don't use it, but you have it. If you didn't, you would have let me die, like you said. I would like to think that if I helped you…"

"Do we define honor the same way, Allura? I'm not sure. I think you and your space explorer friends would call my motivations self-serving ones. After all, I only spared you because I care for you. Do you think I would have given the matter a second thought if it was the red lion that was torn apart instead of the blue one?"

"So you're saying you won't cooperate? That you won't accept any offer of amnesty if we give it to you in exchange for helping to fight off your father?" Allura argued, straightening. "You would rather stay here, locked in a cell for the rest of your life?"

Before Lotor could give the princess an answer, the door to the holding area opened, and the princess turned to see Coran, Nanny, Keith, and Lance standing there along with the two guards that she had dismissed. Immediately Nanny charged over and grabbed the princess' arm. "This is no place for a nice girl like you," the governess lectured. "And you," she said, glaring hatefully at Lotor, "you stay away from my baby, you swine!"

"Nanny!" Allura exclaimed angrily, "I was negotiating with Lotor! Let go of me!"

Coran frowned disapprovingly. "I'm sorry, Princess, but she is right. This is no place for you. He is not worth the breath you waste speaking with him."

"I should consider myself lucky that _she _disagrees," Lotor snapped, eyeing the intruders with cold contempt.

Lance rolled his eyes at the prisoner. "You should consider yourself lucky that she thinks you're worth giving the time of day to. If it was up to us, you'd still be lying in that wreckage where you belong."

Lotor narrowed his serpentine eyes at the red lion pilot. "Then it would seem you space explorers aren't quite as honorable as you like to pretend you are," he said, and then cast an equally disgusted glare at Keith. "But that comes as no surprise to me from someone who would misrepresent his role in saving his dear princess' life from poison."

Keith's eyes went wide with shock, and he glared back at the prince defensively. "Hey, now wait a minute—"

"Enough!" Coran declared, cutting them all off. "We've wasted enough time with this man and his lies and insinuations," the diplomat said staunchly, casting a wary glare of his own Lotor's way. "Besides, he will not be a pest and distraction to us much longer."

"What do you mean?" Allura asked.

"That's what we came to tell you, Princess," Keith explained as he joined her side by the cell. "We were looking for you to tell you the news, and one of the security guards said you came down here to speak with Lotor."

Allura looked from Keith to Coran. "What news?" she demanded, while the imprisoned Lotor also looked on, but remained silent.

"We just got off the horn with Galaxy Garrison and filled them in on what happened," Lance informed her. "They're sending someone out here ASAP, probably to arrive sometime tomorrow, to take Lotor off our hands and into custody. They plan to try him for all the war crimes he's committed against Alliance planets."

Lotor's blood ran cold at that news, knowing that was a very dire circumstance indeed for him, but he refused to allow any of his enemies to see any that he felt any sort of fear or weakness. Instead, all he did was look silently at Allura, at the beloved princess he had risked everything for. _Allura,_ _I saved you. You have the power to save me,_ he thought powerfully, almost projecting the thought. Had he had any telepathic abilities at all, it would have sounded in the Arusian princess' mind like a heartfelt plea laced with desperation.

Overwhelmed where she stood, Allura felt the heavy gaze of Lotor on her again. So many conflicting thoughts went through her, as she found herself alternately wishing that the prince would have just saved her and run away as he had before, or that he would have had nothing to do with rescuing her from the blue lion's crash, so that she could feel no urge to hold back, no sense of guilt, at letting him go. After all, this was Lotor—crowned prince of Doom, son of and conqueror for ruthless King Zarkon, the same man who had unleashed untold horrors on her planet and who was responsible for countless innocent deaths and even more innocents' suffering—and yet she could not bring herself to hate him. Not that man who had spoken to her so gently, who assured her of his love, who even acted and showed it in his corrupt and twisted way, and who had literally thrown himself at a monster, all for her.

"Try him…" the princess murmured, her eyes shifting from Lotor to Keith and Lance and finally to Coran.

The keeper of the Castle of Lions nodded. "Galaxy Garrison will give him a fair trial and a just punishment if he is found guilty."

"If," Lance snorted sarcastically, "like there's any question!"

Allura glanced from Lotor to her companions uncertainly. It sounded like the right thing. The fair thing. Galaxy Garrison would be fair, of course, justice was everything the Galaxy Alliance and its planets stood for. Surely they would take Lotor's heroic treatment of her into account and give him a fair sentence. "A fair trial?"

While Coran nodded in assurance to the young princess, Nanny glared once again into Lotor's cell. "It's more than a rascal like him deserves!"

"It is for the best," Keith told the princess gently as he took her hand. "We don't have the means to hold Lotor here indefinitely. Zarkon wouldn't bargain for him anyway, and if he does want his son back, he can just as easily negotiate with Galaxy Garrison as with us. In fact, he's more likely to cooperate with a force like them rather than just us here on Arus, especially without Voltron."

Allura nodded, although it was not as assured as she felt it should be. She believed she was making the right decision, yet…

"You do understand why this is the best way to go about things, don't you, Princess?" Coran prompted Allura.

Taking one last long and meaningful look at Lotor, her blue eyes filled with a genuine concern that both delighted and crushed the captured prince all at once, she turned back toward her advisor and the Voltron force with a slow nod. "Yes. I understand."

"Good," Nanny said, putting her arm around Allura's shoulders. "Now let's get you out of here. You've had a rough day and need your rest, and this place is not fit for any princess, not at all." She began to usher her toward the stairs, but Allura halted and turned back to Lotor for a moment while Keith, Lance, and Coran headed back out.

"Lotor, I—"

"Goodbye, Allura," Lotor said abruptly, cutting her off, unwilling to hear the words spoken as to why she had decided what she had.

On some level the prince understood her decision. After all, it was perfectly logical, and more than fair. Lotor knew that Allura genuinely believed that Galaxy Garrison would treat him fairly, but what the naïve and compassionate princess considered fair and what a military conglomerate considered justice were two different things, and he knew that. Still, it did not change his feelings. _If nothing else, maybe she will finally believe I'm capable of it in the end,_ Lotor mused sadly, before he called out three final words to the princess' retreating form.

"I love you."

With one last long glance, and a haunting expression of beauty laced with regret that the prince would never forget, Allura disappeared up the stairs.

**The End**


End file.
